Striking teachers drop picket signs to rescue people from fire

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Five striking teachers are being praised for their quick action after spotting a house fire in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The teachers were picketing in front of a school Thursday, Decmeber 15, 2016 near Pittsburgh, when a fire broke out in a house across the street, authorities said.
Credit: Ambridge-Voulnteer Fire-Department

Striking teachers drop picket signs to rescue people from fire

Five striking teachers are being praised for their quick action after spotting a house fire in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The teachers were picketing in front of a school Thursday, Decmeber 15, 2016 near Pittsburgh, when a fire broke out in a house across the street, authorities said.
Credit: Ambridge-Voulnteer Fire-Department

AMBRIDGE, Penn. — Five striking teachers are being praised for their quick action after spotting a house fire in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

The teachers were picketing in front of a school Thursday near Pittsburgh, when a fire broke out in a house across the street, authorities said.

That’s when the teachers dropped their pickets signs and sprang into action. One said she sprinted across the street, almost getting hit by a car.

They then made frantic efforts to find the occupants in the minutes before fire crews arrived — and helped them get out of the building.

Home heavily damaged by blaze

“I was pounding the front door, and eventually I think the front door just kicked through,” Karen DeMarco said. Three people were rescued from inside the home — including an elderly man who had trouble walking, another person with medical oxygen and a former student who DeMarco had taught, WTAE reported.

No one was injured in the fire that heavily damaged the home.

“If the teachers wouldn’t have been here … there’s a chance somebody could have been very seriously injured or even worse,” said Ambridge Fire Chief Rob Gottschalk.

Nearly 190 teachers walked out of classrooms on Tuesday in a dispute with the school district over pay and benefits.